What is Your Vision?

Note: my apologies for the lack of posts this week; I've been working on this post since Tuesday, and though it is long today, it has touched my heart and I hope it will touch yours as well.

Acts 17:26-28 ESV
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Almost 20 years ago I was able to go to South Korea on a mission's trip. I was a Christian just a little over two years, and sadly enough I hadn't invested any time in God's word other than listening to sermons and sitting in Sunday school. When I was introduced to the national who would be my translator and partner, his first question to me was "what is your vision?" Have you ever had the dream where you went to school or work and forgot to put clothes on? Well, that was how I felt at that very moment; I didn't realize that I needed a vision, nor did I know how to get one.

Fast-forward a few years to when I have graduated college and now on the leadership team of a small country church. I had a grasp of what a vision was. It could be divided into short-term and long-term and it would be attainable. The only thing about this is that this type of "vision" looked much like a well thought out business plan in corporate America.

I have since struggled with the concepts of dreams and vision. And when I'm asked about these now, my answer is simple: to know and follow God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Genesis 12:1-3 would be Abram's vision. Take into account that he did not live to see the fullness of this vision while he lived on earth. He knew what the end would be and he knew what to do to get there, that is, follow the Lord. Do you see anything similar to your life? Abraham had no idea of the particulars of his journey and even tried to fulfil God's promise with his own strength.

By now, some are probably wondering where is Proverbs 29:18?
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
I've been thinking about that verse. It is the verse that we use to justify long drawn-out plans of what we will do for the Lord. We tend to quote only the first part of the verse: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." However, as I look at the entire verse, I'm getting stuck on some punctuation, mainly the colon between the two parts of the verse. This tells me that in some way "but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" defines or further explains "where there is no vision, the people perish." (If you are referring to this with a modern translation you will notice the punctuation to be different. However, the word "but" remains, which still shows a relation between the two clauses).

With that being said, let's take the whole verse and put it together and really think about it. In my opinion, this verse is telling us that to have vision we must keep the law. Says nothing about our organizational or planning skills. (God can use these, but I'll address that later).

What is keeping the law?
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus gave us the standard. And though He is the only one who could perfectly keep the law, we can still strive to love God and others the best as we can through action and moreover through Christ (see reference for today's devotional).

If we continue to look at the relation between the law, God's Word, and vision we can also look at how God's word leads us.

Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Through His Word, the Law, we can see where we are and where we need to go.

Finally, I would like to let you know why I chose Acts 17:26-28 to bring up the subject of vision. This last Tuesday I listened to Jim Edge, President of Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO, give a message on this scripture. He focused on verse 28 (“In him we live and move and have our being"). This portion of scripture truly consolidated my thoughts on vision.

Vision from God is directly related to keeping His law and desiring His Word. In other words, vision is related to how we want to know God, to know Jesus and Him crucified, and our willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit as He directs you through the Word and to act in love.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

What is my vision? To know Jesus Christ; to rely on Him totally to share with others that they may desire to have faith in Him and ultimately that their main goal is know Him. Can I put this on paper? As long as it is "in Him." Can there be an action plan? As long as it is not my wisdom, but by His power. Can this be taken from the general and applied to my community and my community in Christ? Absolutely, as long as it is done through Him and that whatever path I take is totally because I am in Him.